Impulse
by rocketfire1999
Summary: Jaime is in love with Impulse. Bart just wishes it was him, not the brand of women's deodorant. Bluepulse
1. Impulse: Tease

**Jaime** **is in love with Impulse. Bart just wishes it was him, not the brand of women's deodorant.**

If you have ever walked into a girl's change room at a high school, you'll notice the mixed scents of dozens and dozens of perfumes. Usually, it's not so bad. But then there are days where one kid decides to fill the air with half a can of Strawberry Musk, creating a pink-tinged mist that one breath of is probably quite dangerous to your health.

Even on the other days, the effect is enough to make you nauseous.  
The great thing about being a guy was that you hardly ever had to experience the pungent stink of many bad aerosols mixed together. No, you merely had to put up with getting hit in the face with the stench of BO and clothing muddy enough to be mistaken for dirt.

Which was why Bart was shocked to walk into the boys change room at the cave after their mission and find the air was filled with the pungent smell of rotten pineapple.

The speedster gagged and hit the floor, holding his breath for as long as possible. The smell only seemed to grow stronger, until a dark figure towered over him.

"Stop-" he began to wheeze, before a familiar voice interrupted him.

"_¿Estás bien? ¿Qué tiene de malo? ¿Quién te hizo esto?_"

"Jamie..." Bart coughed. He was going to pass out. The rotten pineapple was reaching his brain and turning it into a giant fruit. "English..."

Someone must have broken into the cave and released the deadly gas. Someone who wanted them dead. Lucky for Jaime, the scarab would filter the smell, and he'd survive. But Bart was done for. He only had seconds left, he knew, though he was glad to spend them with Jaime.

"Jamie... Before I... Go... I have to tell you... I..."

Jaime murmured something in Spanish, followed by something incoherent in English.

"What?" Bart hissed, annoyed Jamie wasn't giving him the chance to confess his love. "...like it?"

"Like what?" Why wasn't he dead? The gas had to be deadly, so why wasn't he dying?

"Like the smell. It's 'zesty pineapple' and 'exotic wood'."

Bart looked up and stared at Jaime. "That smells horrible."

Jaime drew back, a hurt expression on his face. "I think it smells _delicioso_." As if to prove his point, there was a small hiss as the thin can in his hand shot out more of the stench.

Bart dragged himself to his feet, though a wave of nausea hit him as more of the aerosol was released. He hated when Jamie was sad. Especially when he had caused it. "Hey, hey, yeah it does. Metallo must have hit me pretty hard in the head and I fell over because ow it hurts haha!" Bart smacked the side of his head enough to put an actual pain there. Thankfully, Jamie couldn't quite decipher his speech, but recognised it as back tracking.

"Do you need a nurse, _ese_?"  
"No, haha, just more of that zesty pineapple stuff because man it's good!"

Jaime gave a small smirk. "I know. They say it's for women, but I reckon' it's pretty manly with the forest scents in it and all. I only have three in the range, but I'm going to buy the other ones."

"Other ones?" Bart echoed, paling.

Secretly, he adored how Jamie smelt. He often found himself breathing in deeply when ever the hero was near, just because his natural smell was so... Intoxicating. Nearly indescribable, Jamie on his own smelt exotic, wild and just a little bit Spanish. It drove Bart wild. Of course, Jamie didn't know that. Of course the guy was 900% straight and even if he wasn't, with a body that good, he deserved better than a freckled teen.

Lost in his own thoughts about sniffing the other boy, he jumped when a sky blue can with a gold lid was thrust in front of his face.

He took the container and analysed it in a moment. The front had a large love heart, the back with some stupid description. But it was the title that most surprised him.

"Impulse," he read.

"Impulse: Tease," Jaime corrected.

Bart could feel his heart hammering against his chest. What was he implying? That he was teasing Jamie? That Jamie was trying to tease him?

"Andwhatisthatsupposedtomeand oesitmea-" Bart babbled, mentally running through the confession of his love for Jamie that he had been practising for the last six nights in a row.

"Ha, _sì_, it is your name," Jaime laughed, "I didn't realise. I just smelt it and decided it was too good not to buy. I saw the title only when I got out of the _tienda_."

Bart assumed that his heart looked like the broken tiled one on the front of the can.

He took a deep breath, though immediately regretted it. Despite knowing that his crush would never become anything more, having Jamie imply as much made him feel horrible, like he had been shot in the chest a billion times with the man's sonic canon. He glanced over the packaging one last time before turning.

_Impulse Tease is a perfumed body spray that will ensure you smell irresistible all day long. It contains notes of zesty pineapple combined with an exotic wood scent, and is best enjoyed when spritzed all over the body._

Bart turned and folded his arms across his chest.

"Something wrong, ese?" Jamie called, but Bart had already disappeared. He shrugged to himself and spritzed his underarms with more of the deodorant.

_Impulse Tease is an extremely attracted young male named Jamie Reyes that will ensure your heart being broken on a daily basis. It contains notes of an insane robot combined with an adorable personality, and is best enjoyed without a shirt._

Bart sighed and slumped down on his bed.

_And when he doesn't smell like rotting fruit._

* * *

**Great. Another multi-chapter fic. Let's hope I can actually finish this one. I'm not even going to mention cartoon network. I'm just going to remain blissfully unaware, and remind you to help out with keeping YJ!**

**oh. Yeah. And bluepulse. Sorry.**

**Review!**


	2. Impulse: Illusions

Bart bent over backwards, back curling into a perfect arch as the missile flew over him, just grazing his forehead, before hitting the crumbling mortar wall behind him and exploding. He flipped over, turning into a handstand before springing up onto his feet. He blinked twice, then turned in a full circle to see if Robin was available for a fist bump.

Speak of the devil, his friend was thrown into a wall just to the left of him, with a grand display of dust and a small ball of fire. Impulse rushed to the limp boy's side, helping him to sit up.

Robin coughed twice, no more, then accepted Bart's hand so that he could be pulled to his feet.

As soon as they were standing, Robin tugged them both back to the ground. Bart writhed in his grip, but froze when he heard the familiar whistle of a bomb flying through the air over his head.

"Thanks," he said quickly, jumping to his feet. Robin begrudgingly joined him, the soles of his boots scraping against the concrete warehouse floor as he tugged Impulse behind a large stack of crates to protect them from the missiles being fired at their heads.

"Did you see my flip? Did you see it? Totally cra..." Bart died off as he caught Robin's glare, "Crash."

"Here's the plan," Robin muttered, ignoring Bart's excitement, "We need a distraction. You go out there and... Be distracting. And I'll take down..." Tim froze and pursed his lips.

"Take down who, Timmy?" Bart teased, bouncing on the spot.

"I don't know his name," he hissed, folding his arms across his chest and averting his gaze, "Nightwing didn't mention it. And don't call me Tim! You're violating League rules." Tim paused, then moved toward the edge of the crates. "I'm going to see how everyone is doing, then we'll go." With that, Tim simply disappeared.

Bart leant against the concrete wall and tapped his foot while he waited for the Bat to return. When he saw him slinking back against the wall, he ran out to meet him.

"How're we doing? Are we okay? Are you okay? Is Jamie okay? Where's Jamie?" Bart twirled in place, looking for Blue Beetle, "Actually, where is the rest of Beta-"

Half of Bart's question was answered when Wonder Girl was thrown at the pair, pushing them back into the wall. Bart's head, being the closest thing to the wall, hit the hardest, with a resounding crack.

Cassie, with her super strength, bounced straight back up. Robin, whose blow had been softened by Bart, pulled himself to his feet.

Bart, though, was very quickly knocked unconscious.

* * *

He couldn't see a whole lot. Probably because he couldn't open his eyes more than a fraction. What he did see, though, was a bleak white wall, marred by the lines of his lashes.

He could hear, though. Quite clearly. Murmurs that were muffled by the thick walls, the harsh, fast beeping indicating that he was alive, that his heart was beating. Just ten times faster than the average human's.

As more of his senses began working, he began to smell, too. The scent of roses. And chocolate. Megan?

He couldn't hear any breathing, though. Perhaps someone had just left some air freshener in his room. Some really really nice air freshener, mingled with the scent of dark chocolate. Had someone brought him cake!?

Quite suddenly, though, he heard the soft whirring of gears and a light grinding of metal as a visitor in the plastic chair by his bed shifted. There was a small thud on the table beside his bed, and the smell of chocolate become much stronger.

Bart opened his mouth to ask if it was Jamie, but his lips were stuck together, and he already knew the answer. The rose... God dammit. Jamie was wearing the stupid body mist again. At least this time, the stench didn't make him want to throw up.

But he was still left with one question.

Why was Jamie sitting by his bedside

"_Ese_," the boy breathed, his voice slightly mechanic and gruff (totally sexy) through his costume, "You gotta get better soon, _sî_? We all miss you. Robin feels bad for letting you get hurt."

Bart hoped that the machine hooked up to his pulse wouldn't show that his heart had just skipped a beat. Jamie... Jamie missed him? Well, the rest of the team did. But Jamie was the one sitting next to his bed, waiting for him to wake.

"I, uh, got a new deodorant. Because you didn't like the other one," Jamie continued, shifting to pull the can out his pocket. There was a hiss as more of the fragrance was sprayed into Bart's face. He struggled mightily not to cough.

If he did, Jamie would know that he was awake.

"I wouldn't want you to be unhappy," Jamie murmured, leaning back in his chair.

There was a long pause between beeps of the machine sitting next to Bart's bed, then it began beating rapidly, even faster than before.

"_Hermano_? Bart? _¿Estás bien?_ I'll go get the nurse." There was the sound of the engine of Jamie's jet pack whirring into action, followed by the familiar sound of the flames propelling him through the air, and out the door.

Bart was ecstatic. It was the best day of his life, easily.

He almost didn't mind when he passed out again.

* * *

"So... Jamie," Bart grinned, immediately after the rest of the crowd around his bed had dispersed. Blue Beetle has halfway through standing, ready to leave, "You were in my room. When I was unconscious. You cooked something chocolatey for me. You-"

"Bart? I was on a mission. I was sent out to find the guy who had attacked you. For the last three days. Besides, the nurse has been watching you for the past four. She hasn't noted that you've woken up once. Are you sure you weren't dreaming? Was it just an _espejismo_?"

Bart's heart, which had been soaring so high, fell and hit the ground with the same sickening crack that had sounded when his head hit the concrete wall in the warehouse.

He couldn't speak. His chest hurt too much.  
"Speaking of _espejismo_, I have a new deodorant," Jamie said with a grin. That beautiful, beautiful grin.

"Yeah?" Bart asked hoarsely.

"_Sî_. It's called Impulse: Illusions." Jamie thrust the can in front of Bart, and, despite his watering eyes, he began to read.

_Impulse Illusions is a fragranced body spray that ensures you smell irresistible all day long. This mysterious and feminine formula is a blend of rose, musk and amber, and is suitable for use all over the body._

"Sounds... Nice." Bart murmured. Jamie shot him one of those dazzling grins, and left the room.

_Impulse Illusions is a dashing young man called Jamie Reyes, who will appear, as an angel would, at your bedside, all day long. This mysterious phenomenon will likely be caused by a mix of love, want and hope for him to one day love you back._

Bart stuffed his face into his pillow.

_Except that will never happen. _

* * *

**Hi again! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please, review and favourite! I'll love you for it. By the way, like my cover? I made it on Microsoft word. I'm so proud of myself.**


	3. Impulse: Love Puzzle

~Forty Years After Present Day~

Bart knew he was going to get in trouble. A risk like this would land him right in the middle of some awful conflict, no doubt ending in the execution of the dealer. Books were almost as hard to come by as the dealers themselves, meaning the death of yet another could lead to the destruction of the final books remaining.

And Bart was scared. Bart, the boy who had been planning to escape from his time. Bart, the boy who stole rations to feed the elderly. Bart, the boy who could handle the amount of work _They _instructed him to do... Was afraid of what _They _would do if they saw him with a book.

Especially an information book. With pictures. _Coloured _pictures. He had to trade an entire week's worth of his rations, and had to take the dealer's shifts. If a book was rare, he was almost sure that _The Waltz _was the last of its kind.

He sat down under the dead tree, the burnt and gnarled branches, providing just enough shelter to protect him from the thick, yellow drops of acid rain falling on the black dust on which he sat. He dusted off some of the ash, that fell constantly nowadays, from the front cover, savouring the illustration lying beneath the slight charred casing.

The picture was of a blonde woman, her hair startling bright, wearing a long, midnight blue gown with lilac detailing. Bart traced his fingers over the small, floral patterns along the hem that trailed on the ground. The woman's fingers were entwined with a taller man's, her knuckles paling due to the strength of her grip. He wore a beautifully tailored suit, complete with a bright red bow tie. Bart envied him. He hadn't ever worn clothing that wasn't dirty rags, nor had he so much as touched a girl as beautiful as this one.

Then again, Bart envied anyone lucky enough to have lived in the past.

After staring at the picture at the front, he peeled open the pages. The paper made a delightful crackling sound, that warmed his empty stomach to the point where it brimmed into his throat and escaped, though the chuckling sounded more like a dry cough.

After a few pages of boring introductions, he finally came across a spread of photos with instructions on how to waltz. So it was a _dance_.

Bart read over the instructions. The positioning of his hands, the slow and steady moments of his feet, the slight sway of his hips. After a few minutes of memorising the pages, he stood and snapped one of the dried long hanging branches off of the tree. After figuring out where his hands would sit around the tree's various bumps, he imagined a pair of eyes on his branch, and began by stepping back.

Having missed eating for the past two days, his body shook slightly with the exertion of having to carry both his thin form and the rather large branch, but he managed. Just.

He glided out, bringing the tree with him, to a spot where he was no longer protected from the burning droplets. As they hit his shoulder, they charred small holes in his rags and stung his shoulders.

He imagine that his branch was a beautiful woman, with long, flowing blonde hair. He imagined that he had to work carefully to step around the train on her dress, had to adjust his footing to account for the polished shoes. He twirled the stick under his arm, then dipped it back, murmuring something incoherent that may of been an attempt to express his joy.

The dull, destroyed landscape around him formed into an elegant ballroom, with gold trimmings and paintings and tables laden with... Bread. Unlimited bread.

He was lost, for at least a few more minutes, marvelling in how easy his feet would glide around, how complete he felt, with his stick-girl and imaginary tuxedo. He dipped his partner again, only this time, someone outside his bubble screamed out his name, and in his surprise, he dropped her. Scrambling to collect his book, he shoved the bound pages up his shirt and ran as fast as he could back down to the centre where he was supposed to be sleeping.

He hoped that no one had been harmed in his absence. He would forever feel guilty if they had. But... In a way, it would almost be worth it. He hadn't felt so happy ever before. It was a strange sensation - a sharp pang in his stomach, warmth filling his body. Happiness. He tested the word on his tongue. It felt wrong.

But right.

All he could do, when he saw his friend with his arms held tightly by two of _Them, _was promise himself that one day he would get out and dance again.

It was the only thing that kept him going.

* * *

~Present Day~

Jaime confused Bart an awful lot.

Like, just the other day, he was telling Bart that he _hadn't _been waiting for him to become conscious by his hospital bed, even though Bart had sworn that he had seen him. In fact, Jaime blatantly denied it, then treated Bart like some kind of idiot for thinking it.

So, it kind of hurt.

But the real puzzle was why Jaime had ignored him the past few days, and then come up to him and asked Bart to teach him how to dance.

Come on. Almost every modern day movie told them that dancing let to... Gasp.. Kissing. The thought of being that close to Jaime, practically _hugging, _was enough to make Bart's heart race even faster than usual.

It was rather lucky that Bart had spent years and years of the future teaching himself how to waltz.

Bart grinned his trademark smirk, practically glowing with happiness. "Sure. I know a thing or two about dancing. What do you need to know, and why?"

"Milagro has some dance thing I'm supposed to chaperone at. I only found out a second ago that Im supposed to bring a partner, _and _I'm supposed to dance," Jaime groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Bart grinned, standing and racing to Jamie to sling his arm over the boy's shoulder. "What are best bros for? I'm pretty good at the Waltz."

"Waltz? Isn't that... _Ese, _I would of picked you more as a street dancer."

Bart feigned offence. "I'm great at ballroom dancing, thankyouverymuch!"

Jaime laughed (oh god) and shook his head. "Yeah, yeah. Just show me how to dance, _hermano._"

Bart pouted and grabbed Jaime's hand, immediately dipping him. Jaime shrieked, very unmanly, but Bart was pretty sure having him doing it somehow made it attractive. "Stay crash, man. Just play along. First off, stand up straight. I'm not gonna stab you and... Is that thing on your back..?"

Jaime rolled his eyes, repeating what the scarab said to him. "This proximity will make extermination of The Impulse simple. Preparing canons."

Bart flinched jokingly. "Hey! I'm not gonna teach you how to dance if you blow my head off right after! Now, put your hand on my hip like this. Relax! Seriously. Don't be so stiff. That's better. Hold me tighter, like I'm that girl on the front of your magazine."

Jaime blushed bright red, though his embarrassment only served to upset Bart, even if he didn't show it. When the speedster had found the magazines covered in half-naked girls, he was crushed. Really feeling the mode. His crush was quite obviously straight.

Sometimes he forget that in the past homosexuality was considered wrong by some people, even dirty, or disgusting. Perhaps that was what Jaime was scared of.

Bart wouldn't know, after all. Women were unpredictable, and in the future people were more concerned about where their next meal was coming from rather than the state of other sexualities.

Bart position his hand firmly on Jaime's hip and cleared his throat. He shoved Jamie back, feet gliding easily after the boy's clumsy ones. "Chin up," Bart commanded, the strictness to his voice completely unfamiliar, "I'm the man in this dance. Sway your hips. Glide. Don't step. I said _glide._"

Jaime frowned. "I _am _gliding!" He insisted, but Bart was having none of it.

"No you're not." His brought his foot up to connect with Jaime's kneecap, forcing it to bend under the pressure. "There we are. Keep those knees unlocked."

Easing Jaime back, Bart swayed the pair across to the other side of the room, before slipping his hand from Jaime's shoulder to the small of his back. Fingers grazing over the scarab as his hand moved, Bart could feel each and every one of Jaime's muscles tense under his touch.

"H-Hermano," Jaime coughed when Bart's hand stopped a wee bit too close to his backside. Bart simply laughed, tipping his partner back with a broad grin. This time, Jaime let himself be pulled back, even allowing one of his legs to lift from the ground in quite a grand display.

"See! You're a natural," Bart grinned, pulling Jaime back to his feet. He pushed his face into the older boy's neck with a murmur about practising a slow dance.

"You're confusing me," Jaime muttered quietly. Bart took a step back, slightly dizzy from the intoxicating scent that was lingering on Jaime's skin.

"Confusing?" Bart breathed.

Jaime looked the smaller boy up and down. "You're really puzzling me. I don't know how to dance, and you haven't helped much at all, _ese_. Can't you just come to the dance and show me how to do it there?"

Bart was bitterly disappointed that Jaime's confusion was not caused by the status of their relationship. But his heart lifted, ever so slightly, when Jaime invited him to the dance. So, Bart wouldn't exactly be his date. But it was a start, right? Bart was going to spend a whole night cuddled up to Jaime. Dancing.

Other people may think they were dating!

Bart smiled to himself, but Jaime didn't pick up on it. Instead, he turned wordlessly.

"What should I wear?" Bart asked giddily.

"A suit, I guess. Glam up," Jaime shrugged, already moving toward the door.

"You smell nice!" Bart tried. Jaime did not answer. Instead, a white aerosol can with a pastel pink lid was set flying toward his face. Thanks to his super-speed reflexes, Bart caught it easily. But he kind of wish he had dropped it when he read the back of the bottle.

_Impulse Love Puzzle is an aerosol daily fragrance body spray that contains a blend of exotic oriental scents and citrus notes. Housed in an easy to carry bottle to spray all over your body throughout the day to top up the captivating scent._

Bart sighed. The can was sent through the nearest plaster wall, since the stone was practically impenetrable.

_Impulse Love Puzzle is a rather dashing male named Jaime Reyes, that contains a blend of exotic Spanish scents and confuzzling notes. After requesting a dance, he will have you swooning at the most mere brush of skin._

Bart pulled out his phone and began googling types of suits that were popular in the current year. Both crushed and overjoyed, he was hardly in any state to work on any hero missions. God. Jaime was confusing him so much. He just wanted... Argh. Something.

_Warning: May cause emotions to fluctuate. And sanity to be questioned._


End file.
